Taxing Taxiing, Part 3

(My friend and I have been living in the city for a few short weeks and right now we’re in an area that we absolutely don’t know, looking for a particular store. Note that this happened before everyone got Google Maps on their phones. We take a bus which doesn’t drop us off where we expect, and then we get lost.)

My Friend: “Which is this street?”

Me: “[Street], according to that sign, but why do you need it? You’re as lost here as I am.”

My Friend: “I’ll be calling a cab.”

Me: “Are you mad? We can’t afford a cab.”

My Friend: “I can pay for it, and I’m really sick of walking around. We’ll get a cab to the store and then we’ll figure our way back from there.”

(I agree, so she calls a cab. This particular service takes your number, your location, and your destination, and then the driver calls in a few minutes to tell you when he/she will be there. So we wait about 20 minutes and are a bit frustrated when someone finally calls us.)

Caller: “Hello, I hear you want to go to [Address]?”

My Friend: “That’s right.”

Caller: “Where are you now exactly?”

My Friend: “Uuuh, it’s [Street], right next to a kindergarten…”

Caller: “What? I’m not wasting any fuel on you; you can walk to your destination in about 15 minutes!” *hangs up*

(To say we were dumbfounded would be an understatement. We did find the store on our own. It was a whole hour’s walk. And they say cab drivers know the city perfectly…)

Related:
Taxing Taxiing, Part 2
Taxing Taxiing